Tag: The School

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UPCOMING: Jangle Bells – A Rough Trade Shops Christmas Selection (12/08/2023)

Rough Trade Shops
Buy: Rough Trade (UK only so far)

Rough Trade Shops has a little Christmas gift lined up for their (so far) UK devotees… as they are releasing one of the strongest Christmas complications of the past few years. Compiling a number of top tracks from the recent past with a few exclusives, Rough Trade are flexing their taste muscles with this lineup. I’m most intrigued by the exclusives, obviously, and am paying particular attention to that Marika Hackman song, “Driving Under Stars,” as it sounds like a stripped-back version of one of my favorite holiday songs of the past ten years. The Peaness track, “Kiss Me Sweet Pea,” (edit – added below) could also be pretty amazing, as I really love this incredibly catchy band. There also appears to be a new Ellie Bleach track (edit – posted below!), which is encouraging… as I still may write about her previous song from a few years back (edit – she deleted it!) … Most certainly a worthy addition to your Christmas music collection, should you be the collector-type.

Tracklist (* denotes that I believe them to be exclusive to this release)

  1. Marika Hackman – Driving Under Stars (Piano)*
  2. Pale Waves – Last Christmas
  3. Allo Darlin’ – Will You Please Spend New Years With Me?
  4. Julia Jacklin – Baby Jesus Is Nobody’s Baby Now
  5. The School – Shouldn’t Be Alone For Christmas
  6. The Big Moon – It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
  7. Los Bitchos – Los Chrismos
  8. Linda Lindas – Groovy Xmas
  9. Black Midi – Jingle Bell Rock
  10. Chubby and the Gang – Violent Night (A Christmas Tale)
  11. Peaness – Kiss Me Sweet Pea*
  12. Bubble and Squeak – The Christmas Stick
  13. Ellie Bleach – Merry Christmas, Do You Ever Think Of Me?*
  14. Sinkane – Christmas Wrapping
    CD Only
  15. Dream Nails – Lonely Star (Christmas Song)
  16. Willie J Healey – Merry Christmas
  17. Girl Ray – I Wish I Were Giving You a Gift
  18. Stars – Christmas Anyway
  19. Alex Lahey – Merry Christmas (I Don’t Wanna Fight Tonight)

Bottom Line: A good number of these tracks have been celebrated here before, so yeah, this looks good. Check it out, maybe buy the limited vinyl or the expanded CD… or cherrypick some songs below (where applicable) and give your money directly to the bands!

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Geoffrey and the Livingstones – A Song is For Life and Not Just For Christmas (2013)

Geoffrey and the Livingstones

House vs. Home Records
Buy: Bandcamp

Geoffrey and the Livingstones have gathered their friends and recorded three indiepop originals for us this Christmas season. Their friend list is quite long, including members of Allo Darlin’, The Middle Ones, The Heliogoats, The Smittens, The School, Captain Dangerous, and the list goes on and on. I’d imagine that most of them are on the title track, “A Song is For Life and Not Just For Christmas,” because it is reminiscent of one of those “everyone takes a verse” classic Christmas tunes of yore. Its really a great little song, with some very odd lyrics for those of you who love that sort of thing (I would include myself in that category). “Christmas is the season / we miss old friends the most. / We’re not visited by wisemen, / we’re visited by ghosts. / But instead of kissing corpses / under the mistletoe, / lets raise a glass of eggnog / for a merry memorial toast.”

The other two tracks on the single are certainly the B-sides, but not to put them down, they are just of noticeably smaller scope. “Communist Christmas” is wonderfully clever, and will fit the bill for someone out there’s mix. I would post some lyrics, but you really need to experience them for yourself. “Little Donkey Kong” is a reimagining of “Little Donkey” as video game music. Not my thing, but hey, perhaps yours! It’s short, which is always a bonus.

Bottom Line: Hey, did I mention this is for charity, and totally worth the money? 4.8/5

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Happy New Year 2008 (2007)

Happy New Year 2008! cover

Elefant Records
Buy: Bandcamp | CD | 7″ | iTunes
icon

I don’t have much time, so I grabbed a short one for this review. Happy New Year 2008 is out-of-print, and unavailable via Elefant, but still out there for purchase. Nothing really dates it to 2008, so no worries about that.

Anyone familiar with the Elefant label will not be surprised by this indie pop groove. The School kicks it off with “Kiss You in the Snow,” which is a perfectly passable song. Light, happy, and generally a good time. Coming in at 2:18, it is the perfect time – any longer and the saccharine sweetness might wear a bit… but they hit it well.

The second track by Helen Love is probably the one that you’ll come to with the highest expectations, if only for the title, “Joey Ramone Snowman.” Unfortunately, this is the worst song on the album. It sounds like a child is slightly autotuned… and the spoken-word-singing by a child is not only annoying, but ANNOYING. Sorry to be so brutal… but really. It’s just not enjoyable.

Corazón contributes a song in Spanish, which is quite appropriate for a Spanish label. My Little Airport rounds out the disc with a song in Japanese, leaving only the twee-loving Swedes missing from this international celebration of the indie pop new year. With both tracks, the music is quite pleasant, but they don’t catch me as others have in the past. I don’t need to know what people are singing – if the music is engaging enough, that is all you really need. Not quite there.

Bottom Line: Cheap, but nothing truly amazing. The School track keeps this afloat. 2.6/5

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